By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — What a difference a year makes in high school basketball. After losing six seniors to graduation after last season, including some top performers, West Wilkes couldn’t keep up with host Watauga on Jan. 3, losing to the Pioneers 88-51.

A year ago, Watauga barely eked out a 99-95 win over the resilient Blackhawks. Fast forward and the game would not have been as close as the final 37-point deficit had head coach Bryson Payne not pulled his starters and top bench players for the entire fourth quarter. Even so, this was a game for Pioneer Nation to be introduced to the future and they didn’t disappoint. With smothering defense, the Watauga up-and-comers outscored West Wilkes 11-7 in the final stanza.

“They had a game last night,” Payne acknowledged to reporters after the final buzzer had mercifully sounded, “so they might have been a little tired. We played up-tempo and they couldn’t keep up. Plus, we executed up and down the roster and shot very well tonight.”

In big man Harrison Holbrook, West Wilkes actually had the game’s highest scorer on the floor with his 22 points, but the Blackhawks had little else to show for their offensive production. Meanwhile, Watauga had three players in double figures, led by Josiah Railey’s 19 points, along with 16 points scored by Wyatt Kohout and 12 points by Jackson Pryor. Altogether, 12 Pioneers put points on the board for Watauga on the night.

Now 9-3 on the young season, Watauga goes on the road Jan. 5 to play at North Wilkes before returning home on Jan. 12 for their Northwestern Conference opener vs. 4A rival South Caldwell.

SCORING SUMMARY

• WWK – Harrison Holbrook (22 points)
• WAT – Josiah Railey (19)
• WAT – Wyatt Kohout (16)
• WAT – Jackson Pryor (12)
• WAT – Maddox Greene (8)
• WAT – Landon Smith (7)
• WAT – Cade Keller (7)
• WWK – Blake Broyhill (7)
• WWK – Cameron Greer (6)
• WAT – Brady Lindenmuth (5)
• WWK – Ja’Kaden Larrimore (5)
• WAT – Levi Stone (4)
• WAT – Logan Greene (3)
• WAT – Paul Taylor (3)
• WWK – Eli Johnson (3)
• WAT – Eli Bishop (2)
• WAT – Jackson Love (2)
• WWK – Hayden Frye (2)
• WWK – Branson Davis (2)

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Buoyed by strong performances in the lower weight classes, Watauga High School’s wrestling team defeated Hibriten on Jan. 2, 38-33, in the teams’ first Northwestern Conference dual meet of the 2023-24 season.

The Pioneers’ 106-lb. competitor, Bryan Chen, got things started with a quick pin of the Panthers’ Annie Vanegas midway through the first period. Then in the 113 lb. weight class, Watauga’s Liam Perry recorded a forfeit when Hibriten did not field an athlete.

At 120-lbs, Creed Casner kept thing going for the Pioneers in a close match, defeating Hibriten’s Braydeb Reid, 6-4, giving the Pioneers an early, 15-0 team lead. The visitors got their first points on the board at 126 lbs. when Bryan Reid recorded a fall over Watauga’s Isaac Hensley with 55 seconds remaining in the second period. Watauga still held the team lead, 15-6.

Watauga’s Cole Kleman all but dominated Hibriten’s Landan Baker at 132 lbs. After giving up an early takedown in the first period, Kleman followed with a reversal to knot the score 2-2 at the end of the first period, but the second frame saw the sophomore Pioneer record four near falls in the last two frames before securing a 14-4 decision and expanding the Pioneers’ team lead to 19-6.

Ryder Sullivan made short work of Hibriten’s Noah Koenig at 138 lbs., picking up six more valuable team points with a pin at the 1:14 mark of the second period. Hibriten’s Drew Martin returned the favor one match later, pinning Watauga freshman Lucas Bishop, also in the second period. The team score after the 144-lb. match: Watauga 25. Hibriten 12.

Watauga’s Camden Brock gave the Pioneers a little more early separation with a 7-1 win at 150, prevailing over the Panthers’ Chase McGhinnis, who was competing up a couple of weight classes over what the Hibriten roster has him listed. The Pioneers’ David Brooks looked every bit the dominating force in taking on Hibriten’s Jacob Stillwell at 157 lbs., recording takedowns vs. the Panther senior and letting him escape before finally pinning him in the second period. The win gave the Pioneers a seemingly insurmountable, 34-12 lead, but the Hibriten heavyweights proved formidable and almost won the day for the visitors.

Senior Palmer Smith, who was one of two Pioneers making the 4A state championship tourney a year ago, moved up in weight class, to 165 lbs., vs. Hibriten and somewhat toyed with his Panther opponent, Joshua Stillwell, recording takedowns, letting his opponent escape, and repeating the process for the full three rounds before taking a 12-4 decision.

Smith’s win, expanding the Pioneer lead to 38-12, proved to be Watauga’s last points. Hibriten pins at 175 lbs. 190 lbs. and 215 lbs. caused the Pioneer lead to all but evaporate. At 175, Ashton Woodruff took care of business in pinning Edwyn Vickrey midway through the first period. Dillon Earp did the same vs. Watauga’s Mikey Portante at 190 lbs. Then, Hibriten senior Caleb Walker posted a second round pin against Watauga junior Nick Turnmire, shrinking the Pioneer lead to just 38-30.

Arguably the tightest match of the night was saved for the heavyweight division, which saw Watauga’s Eli Greene edged, 1-0, by Hibriten’s Elijah Amaya-Perez. It was a match that saw Amaya-Perez escape his “down” set position in the second period. Greene was in that position to start the third period. Although he exploded to his feet three times during the final period, trying to escape, he was unable to pry loose his opponent’s fingers and hands before being brought back down each time.

After the match, Watauga head coach Zach Strickland was pleased with the team win in the season’s first conference dual meet, praising the hard work and competitiveness of his athletes, top to bottom.

“Our lower weights won the day,” observed Strickland.

Watauga’s grapplers next compete vs. Freedom, hosting the Patriots on Friday, Jan. 5 in Lentz Eggers Gym, with a scheduled first whistle at 5:30 p.m.

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Battling back from a 13-point deficit at halftime to just two points with 3:04 left to play in the fourth quarter was not quite enough for Watauga in Round 3 of the High Country Holiday Classic, losing to Apex Friendship, 58-47, in the final game of the tournament.

BONUS PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF ARTICLE (click any image for slideshow mode)

The visiting Patriots’ roster includes five players 6-3 or taller, including the biggest of the bigs, 6-6 senior center/forward Chuks Ezeonu, named most valuable player of the tournament after the game. Ezeonu scored 12 points for Apex Friendship, but had a greater impact on the outcome with his rebounding and blocked shots.

Also in double figures for the Patriots were David Major (14 points) and Jake Mattachione (14).

Watauga’s Josiah Railey poured in a game-high 16 points but only Jackson Pryor (10) also made double figures for the tourney hosts.

Now 8-3 on the young season, Watauga hosts West Wilkes on Jan. 3 (6:15 p.m. tipoff), then travels to North Wilkes on Jan. 5 (8:30 p.m. tipoff) before opening Northwestern Conference play vs. 4A rival South Caldwell on Jan. 12 (8 p.m.) at Lentz Eggers Gym.

SCORING SUMMARY

• WAT – Josiah Railey, 16 points
• APF – David Major, 14 points
• APF – Jake Mattachione, 14 points
• APF – Chuks Ezeonu, 12 points
• WAT – Jackson Pryor, 10 points
• APF – Kendall Lanier, 9 points
• WAT – Cade Keller, 6 points
• WAT – Maddox Greene, 6 points
• WAT – Wyatt Kohout, 5 points
• WAT – Brady Lindenmuth, 4 points
• APF – Jackson Green, 4 points
• APF – David Lozada, 3 points
• APF – Tristan Kent, 2 points

BONUS PHOTOS (click any image for slideshow mode)

By David Rogers. RALEIGH, N.C. — For Charlotte Torgerson and Kate Sears it was sweet 16 — 16 points, each, en route to a convincing, 50-36 win over Chapel Hill in the game to decide 7th place for the Wonderland bracket of the John Wall Holiday Invitational basketball tournament.

The Pioneers made 7-of-19 shots from behind the 3-point arc, slightly better than their season average to date. Four of those seven from long distance came in the first quarter when Watauga jumped out to a 22-2 lead by the end of the period.

To be fair, the Tigers were without arguably their best player in Laynie Smith, who leads the team in scoring, field goal percentage, blocks, assists, and steals. The 6-4 senior was unavailable due to a volleyball commitment.

As it was, Chapel Hill made it a point to get the ball inside to 6-3 sophomore Eva Smith and she didn’t disappoint, pouring in a game-high 19 points. Unfortunately, that inside strategy was about the only thing working for the Tigers, who made only 1-of-18 3-point attempts (5.6 percent).

By contrast, the Pioneers had three players in double figures, including Sears and Torgerson with 16 apiece along with Julie Matheson (10 points). Sears tied for game-high honors with nine rebounds, Chapel Hill’s Scarlett Gilner and Haara Umenwalin sharing the honor. All nine of Sears’ rebounds were on the defensive end. The Pioneer junior also tallied a game-high six assists.

Chapel Hill used a distinct size advantage to all but dominate in the paint, where they scored a 26-16 advantage and an 11-2 advantage in second chance points with their strong offensive rebounding, but the Tigers just couldn’t keep up with the Pioneers’ up-tempo attack in transition nor Watauga’s bench depth.

With the win, Watauga improves to 9-3 on the young season, Chapel Hill falling to 8-4. The Pioneers close out their early non-conference schedule on Jan. 5 at North Wilkes before hosting South Caldwell in a Northwestern Conference season opener on Jan. 12.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — While the Pioneers’ senior forward Wyatt Kohut was a consistent offensive contributor throughout Watauga’s Round 2 matchup vs. the Black Knights of North Davidson on Dec. 29 — scoring a game-high 27 points in the home team’s 63-56 win — sophomore point guard Cade Keller and senior forward Jackson Pryor saved their best for last and proved difference makers.

In foul trouble early, Pryor spent much of the night on the bench but brought the crowd in Lentz Eggers Gym to its feet with a thunderous dunk in the fourth quarter, helping to energize the Pioneers with his only points of the night.

Keller hit a pivotal 3-pointer and four straight free throws in the final stanza, adding to Watauga’s ability to finally gain separation on the scoreboard at the end.

North Davidson came into the game with a gaudy 8-3 record, including some impressive wins and close losses to other 4A contenders. With a slight size disadvantage vs. Watauga, the Black Knights turned to their long distance specialists and they produced nine 3-pointers to offset Kohout’s scoring barrage (that included five 3-pointers of his own).

North Davidson’s Justin Mabe recorded a team-high 13 points but was joined in double figures by Kamauri Manuel and Ryan Forrest with 10 points each.

With Pryor in foul trouble, Watauga head coach Bryson Payne turned to Brady Lindenmuth to take on a bigger role in the paint — and the 6-4 sophomore forward didn’t disappoint.

“With Pryor in foul trouble early, we really needed Brady to step up tonight,” said Payne. “He brought energy in rebounding underneath and his four points in the second quarter helped keep us in the lead at halftime.”

Payne credited the Black Knights for keeping his Pioneers out of rhythm in the transition game.

“This was a battle from start to finish,” said Payne. “North Davidson is a well coached team and we had hard time getting into our preferred up-tempo, transition style of play. But in the fourth quarter, Josiah Railey, Cade Keller and Jackson Pryor really came with energy, Keller with those big free throws and Pryor with that big dunk. They helped us gain the needed separation.”

Next up for Watauga is the final High Country Holiday Classic game for 2023 on Saturday, Dec. 30, vs. Apex Friendship. Now 7-2 overall, including wins over Pine Lakes Prep and Ashe County in the first two rounds of the tournament, Apex Friendship competes in the strong 4A Southeast Wake Conference.

With the win, Watauga improves to 8-2 with only the Apex Friendship tilt, then two more non-conference games vs. West Wilkes and at North Wilkes before starting Northwestern Conference play vs. 4A rival South Caldwell on Jan. 12.

SCORING SUMMARY

• WAT – Wyatt Kohout, 27 points
• NDV – Justin Mabe, 13 points
• WAT – Josiah Railey, 12 points
• WAT – Cade Keller, 11 points
• NDV – Kamauri Manuel, 10 points
• NDV – Ryan Forrest, 10 points
• NDV – Payton Eccles, 8 points
• NDV – Coen Miller, 7 points
• WAT – Maddox Greene, 5 points
• WAT – Brady Lindenmuth, 4 points
• NDV – Grayson Rush, 3 points
• NDV – Caiden Bean, 3 points
• WAT – Nate Gutschall, 2 points
• WAT – Jackson Pryor, 2 points
• NDV – Drew Hege, 2 points

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — What started out as a nip-and-tuck affair in the first half morphed into a second half Watauga runaway on Dec. 28 at Lentz Eggers Gym. The Pioneers dispatched Johnson County in the first round nightcap of the High Country Holiday Classic, 77-54.

“We got a little separation in the third quarter,” noted Watauga head coach Bryson Payne afterwards. “But in the fourth quarter we finally got into the flow of our transition game, the way we want to play.”

For the Pioneers, it was run, run, run, especially in the second half. While the backcourt tandem of guards Cade Keller and Maddox Greene initiated a lot of the downcourt attacks, Josiah Railey (25 points), Jackson Pryor (15 points) and Keller (16 points) often provided the finishing touches. Highlights included an artful, one-handed dunk by Railey and a thunderous, two-hands hanging on the rim jam by Pryor.

For the most part, Watauga was lethal in the paint with a decided size advantage. Only 12 of the Pioneers’ 77 total points originated from behind the 3-point arc, two by Keller, one from Railey, and one from Jackson Love coming off the bench in the second quarter.

As a team, Watauga converted 15 of 24 (63%) free throws on the night although on the surface that is misleading. Given his other offensive production and game-high 25 points, few will be critical of Railey’s 6-of-13 (46%) performance from the charity stripe that dragged the team average down.

For Johnson County, junior guard Eli Dickens and sophomore guard Darren Chappell opened the game “hot,” accounting for 13 of the Longhorns’ 18 first quarter points and helping the visitors to an 18-17 lead by the end of the first stanza.

In the second quarter, Watauga made some defensive adjustments to limit the Longhorns to just 10 more points before the halftime break, with Railey and Pryor leading the Pioneers to 15 points in the second stanza to take a still tenuous, 32-28 advantage into intermission.

Johnson County’s roster is dominated by sophomores and freshmen this season and the young hoopsters just could not keep up with the more veteran Pioneers’ fast-paced, up-tempo transition game and had few answers for Watauga’s height advantage in the paint with Pryor, Wyatt Kohout, Brady Lindenmuth and even Levi Stone and Paul Taylor coming off the bench in the fourth quarter.

Now 1-8 on the young season, Johnson County looks to improve in the second round of the Holiday Classic when they face Pine Lake Prep (4-4) on Dec. 29, with tipoff scheduled for 2:30 in Lentz Eggers Gym. The Pride lost to Apex Friendship in the first round, 71-60.

Watauga (7-2) will have a strong challenge from North Davidson (8-3) on Dec. 29, with tipoff slated for 7 p.m. The Black Knights defeated Ashe County, 67-63, in the first round.

The Pioneers complete the Holiday Classic on Dec. 30 vs. Apex Friendship (6-2), a 4A contender in the Southeast Wake Conference.

SCORING SUMMARY

• WAT – Josiah Railey, 25 points
• WAT – Cade Keller, 16 points
• WAT – Jackson Pryor, 15 points
• JCO – Eli Dickens, 14 points
• JCO – Darren Chappell, 13 points
• JCO – Landin Lipford, 8 points
• JCO – Jack Csillag, 7 points
• WAT – Wyatt Kohout, 6 points
• JCO – Hunter Paisley, 6 points
• WAT – Brady Lindenmuth, 5 points
• WAT – Maddox Greene, 3 points
• WAT – Jackson Love, 3 points
• JCO – Eli Tester, 3 points
• JCO – Juan Mejia, 3 points
• WAT – Levi Stone, 2 points
• WAT – Paul Taylor, 2 points

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. RALEIGH, N.C. — In the opening rounds of the 51st Annual John Wall Holiday Invitational, Watauga faced last season’s 4A nemesis and a new 4A rival, both losses for the young Pioneers’ varsity women’s basketball team.

Round 1 vs. Charlotte Catholic

Led by a towering, 6-5 center in senior Blanca Thomas and 6-0 senior guard Gracynn Gough, Charlotte Catholic started out with a significant height advantage that would prove troublesome for any hopes Watauga might have had for scoring in the paint. To counter, they needed to hit from long distance — so a “cold” morning shooting performance from behind the 3-point arc did not produce the desired result.  Charlotte Catholic prevailed, 60-48, in the tournament’s opening game.

With Thomas making good on 63 percent of her shots from the field, mostly layups inside the paint, the Pioneers needed to do better than shooting 18.5 percent (5-of-27 attempts) from behind the arc. It didn’t help that Watauga shot only 58 percent from the charity stripe (11-of-19).

Thomas led all scorers with 26 points and completed a double-double with 12 rebounds. Maggie Kemodle (12 points) and Harper McKain (11 points) were also in double figures for the Cougars, who also saw Olivia Fava dish out 6 assists.

Junior guard Kate Sears poured in 19 points, collected 7 rebounds, and recorded 6 assists for the Pioneers, all team-highs. Charlotte Torgerson added 12 points and Julie Matheson 8 points to aid the Pioneer cause.

It was the Thomas-led Cougars that first defeated Watauga in the Cherokee Invitational in late December last season, then proved the Pioneers’ nemesis again in the 4th round of the 2022-23 NCHSAA 4A Women’s Basketball State Playoffs.

Round 2 vs. Rolesville

The Rolesville Rams are no stranger to playing among the elite, North Carolina 4A women’s basketball teams. In the 2022-23 East bracket, like Watauga in the West, Rolesville lost in the 4th round, to the East bracket’s No. 1 seed Hillside.

Against Watauga, Rolesville trailed 20-7 at the end of the first quarter and looked to be outmatched by the hot shooting Pioneers who moved the ball around the court to an open player, seemingly at will.

But the Rams fought back in the second stanza, outscoring Watauga 18-10 to trail by only five points at the break. Rolesville outpointed the Pioneers 15-7 in the third period, taking their first lead at 38-37. In the early part of the fourth, it looked like the Rams would run away with the game, taking a 10-point lead at one point, but Watauga battled back to tie the game at 52-52 with 36 seconds left to play. The Rams went ahead, 55-52, at which point Kate Sears collected a rebound with scarcely five seconds remaining, dribbled down court in a frenzy and launched a desperation 3-pointer that would have tied the game had it gone in.

While Sears posted a game-high 16 points, she was the only Pioneer in double figures and it just wasn’t enough to offset the Rams’ scoring offensive with four players in double figures: Taliya Rowe (14), Caitlyn Jones (13), Laila Lewis (13), and Kayla Bush (12). Sears also had a team-high five assists for Watauga, while the Rams’ Jones recorded a game-high eight assists.

Again with a height disadvantage, Watauga shot a more respectable 28.1 percent from behind the 3-point arc (9-of-32). Rolesville won the day with a 24-18 advantage inside the paint.

Watauga will play again on Saturday, Dec. 30, 10:30 a.m. in the game to determine the Wonderland bracket’s 7th place finisher. As of press time, the opponent had not been determined.